UFC 257 Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier: start time, how to stream or watch online and full fight card

Ready for UFC 257? Finally it’s time for the return of Conor McGregor, who fought only once last year, thanks to the interruption of COVID-19. But now McGregor is back in the Octagon for UFC 257, fighting against elite lightweight contender Dustin Poirier. The fighters gained weight. Now all that’s left is for McGregor and Poirier to take the hike.

With the current UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov practically retired, this contest is seen by many as a title eliminator. The winner will probably fight for the belt later on the track in 2021, potentially against Charles Oliveira or the Dan Hooker winner against Michael Chandler.

Also at the ends is Nurmagomedov, who, according to Dana White, will be watching UFC 257. If someone does something spectacular, say the reports, he can return for another defense of the UFC lightweight title.

The fight takes place at UFC Fight Island, in Abu Dhabi.

Start times: Today (Saturday, January 23):

• The main card starts at 22h ET (19h00 PT)
• Preliminaries begin at 8 pm ET (5 pm PT).
• The first preliminaries start at 6:30 pm ET (3:30 pm PT)

This is not the first time that this fight has taken place. McGregor defeated Poirier comfortably the last time he fought six years ago at UFC 178, but Poirier has improved dramatically since then. He defeated Max Holloway by the interim UFC lightweight championship, and made a decent display against Nurmagomedov, the current king of lightweight. O Undefeated Nurmagomedov also defeated McGregor in 2018.

Despite Poirier’s improvements, most oddsmakers have McGregor as a clear favorite in this fight. His destruction of Donald Cerrone in 2020, combined with the style of matchup, most people see this as a favorable fight for McGregor. Poirier is mainly a boxer and McGregor is still the sharpest striker with 155 pounds.

McGregor also appears to be in phenomenal shape and, by most accounts, is as motivated as he has been since his legendary first featherweight race. We can have something special with this performance. McGregor predicted that he will win this fight in 60 seconds.

Personally, I’m a huge fan of the UFC’s Inside the Octagon series, which analyzes the confrontation. McGregor vs Poirier is now online.

But outside the main event of the blockbuster, UFC 257 goes a long way. Michael Chandler is making his UFC debut against the night machine fight Dan Hooker in an attractive co-main event and the undercard is dotted with names like Joanne Calderwood. There are a lot of great matches there.

Weighing

The two main event fighters gained weight. If you lost, here’s the final showdown between McGregor and Poirier …

The card lost some fights in the tie however. Check out the full fight card below.

How to watch UFC 257

This year the UFC signed a new partnership with ESPN. It’s great news for the UFC and the expansion of MMA, but bad news for consumer choice. Especially if you are one of the UFC fans who want to watch the UFC live in the United States.

It is worth mentioning, however, that the UFC increased the price of PPVs starting at UFC 257.

In the United States, if you want to know how to watch UFC 257, you will only find the fight night on PPV through ESPN Plus. The cost structure is a bit confusing, but here are the options for watching the UFC on ESPN, according to the ESPN website:

• Annual ESPN Plus subscribers can order the next UFC fight for $ 70.
• Existing ESPN Plus monthly subscribers will be able to upgrade to an annual plan and buy UFC PPV for $ 85 or purchase the ability to attend the UFC PPV event for $ 70 alone.
• New ESPN Plus subscribers can purchase a UFC PPV (HD streaming) event package and a recurring annual ESPN Plus subscription for $ 90. This is a decent deal. The previous package generated savings of 25%, but this new package represents savings of 35%. ESPN’s annual ESPN Plus subscription will automatically renew after one year, at the price of an annual ESPN Plus subscription at the time of automatic renewal.

You can do everything above at the link below.

MMA fans in the UK can watch UFC 257 exclusively through BT Sport. There are more options if you live in Australia. You can watch UFC 257 through Foxtel’s Main Event. You can also watch on the UFC website or using your application. You can even order using your PlayStation or the UFC app on your Xbox.